GOD has come to test you.

 GOD has come to test you.

Exodus 20: ¹⁸ Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

 

²⁰ And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

 

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After hearing the thunder, seeing the lightning, hearing the trumpet blasting louder and louder, the people trembled and moved away from the mountain where GOD stood. Their reaction from hearing GOD was to ask Moses to speak with GOD instead of HIM speaking with them.

 

My Observations:

• The children of Israel were terrified about GOD’s presence and HIS commandments seemed difficult because their mindset was that of an Egyptian slave.
• The children of Israel may have felt that GOD’s commandments were judgments versus protection.
• Moses tried guide the children of Israel by telling them that GOD was testing them, not in a pass-fail way, but in a mindset changing way.

 

When GOD tests you and me, it is not to make us fail; rather, strengthen us. GOD did not put rules in place that our natural inclination to sin causes us to fail. When we voluntarily surrender ourselves to follow what GOD said, HE does amazing things to us and through us.

 

Unfortunately, when we see GOD as a harsh ruler versus a protector, we resent HIS commandments as harsh. GOD had already showed HIS harsh side by placing plagues on the Egyptians. HE was acting very different with HIS children by correcting them versus judging them.

 

Moses guided the children of Israel into healthy fear of the LORD which holds HIM in reverence and sees HIS ways as love and protection. Moses drew near to the scary place where GOD was. We should too.

 

Challenge

• Why did GOD remind Moses about the reaction of the people after HE gave HIS commandments?
• Do you view GOD as the ultimate punisher or the ultimate being who loves you and wants to grow you and protect you?
• Do you react to GOD with surrender or “survival” which causes you to see HIM and HIS servants as harsh?